


Shin-chan and Tooru

by SEpupppupp (ForNought)



Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, dongmyeong's calisthenics, great king jjanggu and cheolsu, shock team 1, skiving off school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForNought/pseuds/SEpupppupp
Summary: As exam season approaches, Dongmyeong and Sunghyuk skip school.





	Shin-chan and Tooru

Dongmyeong was a very annoying friend. He had seemed nice enough when Sunghyuk met him, but over time it became very apparent that the two of them not going to the same school was a blessing. Sunghyuk was however beginning to wish that they didn’t live in the same neighbourhood either. They were both soon-to-be examinees, yet Dongmyeong saw fit to call Sunghyuk out far too regularly. There was never a purpose to meeting with Dongmyeong aside from it being decided that Sunghyuk needed a dose of public embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” Sunghyuk asked balefully. He could take a pretty good guess at what Dongmyeong was going but he decided that he could be as magnanimous as always. Dongmyeong had a chance to think about what he was doing and reconsider. Sunghyuk was very generous like that.

But Dongmyeong only clapped his hands more loudly as he hopped from foot to foot and stretched his arms out like a child pretending to be an airplane. He laughed even harder, a sunny sound that bubbled from his mouth as though he was intent to drive away the storm brewing in Sunghyuk’s mind.

“You should do it too! It will make you feel better!”

“Feel better about what?”

 Unfortunately for Dongmyeong the pressure systems seemed to be incompatible and Sunghyuk could feel his brow furrowing more deeply. He could also feel the eyes of every passer-by. It was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, so the audience wasn’t as extensive as it could have been but it was enough for Dongmyeong’s antics to be embarrassing.

“You’re so grumpy all the time!”

“No, I’m not!” Sunghyuk retorted hotly. A familiar prickle scorched itself up Sunghyuk’s neck and cheeks and before he could pretend to himself that there wasn’t so much as a hiccup in his breathing, he could feel the heat stabbing at the back of his eyes and his face pulling in a way that Dongmyeong would definitely call grumpy.

Dongmyeong lunged out his stupid dance and grabbed at Sunghyuk’s hands. A careless thing to do considering Sunghyuk was determined to prove he was not crying and that meant not accepting the flimsy comfort Dongmyeong offered so often. He stepped back, into a woman who glared at him with tired eyes. Sunghyuk apologised quietly and helped gather the weighty grocery bags that he had made her drop. Dongmyeong was nice enough to wait until the woman was gone before making fun of Sunghyuk.  

“That poor woman,” Dongmyeong said wistfully.

“That was your fault.”

“My fault?” Dongmyeong exclaimed, his eyes going comically wide as his hands went to his chest. As though anybody else could be blamed. “How is it my fault? Did I push you into woman? Did I order you to suddenly knock into her?”

Dongmyeong’s expression had turned dark in such a short amount of time. Did he not realise that he had been careless all along? Sunghyuk grabbed his sleeve and moved them to the edge of the pavement, standing just outside a shop window.  

“I’m not grumpy.”

“So now you’re changing the subject,” Dongmyeong said triumphantly.  

“I’m not changing the subject!” Sunghyuk protested. He knew he sounded petulant like a child but he couldn’t help that at this point. There were some parts of his personality that he didn’t like entirely and the perceived grumpiness that even Sunghyuk could see was one of those aspects. “I didn’t even want to skive off school today but you made me.”

“Because you’re so grumpy. I thought you needed cheering up!”

“I need to not skive off school. I need time to do my homework and revise for exams. And I need time to practice singing and dancing, because it is something that I want to do. And wasting time eating ice cream and window shopping are not things that I need.”

A pensive look passed over Dongmyeong’s face. He tugged at the sleeve of Sunghyuk’s jacket. “Everyone needs to eat ice cream.”

Dongmyeong wasn’t a listener. There were things that got plenty of people bogged down – especially in their final year of school – and those things couldn’t be solved by eating ice cream and shirking responsibilities. It didn’t make sense how Dongmyeong could be so carefree because whenever he talked about his own school-life with Chaeeun it sounded as though he was well respected. He mentioned having responsibilities around the school often too, yet it was his idea not to go to school today and it was usually him distracting Sunghyuk from his revising.

“Dongmyeong,” Sunghyuk muttered. He took a fortifying breath and folded his arms. He wasn’t about to cry here. “Why do you always pretend that everything is so easy?”

Dongmyeong tilted his head. He genuinely looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Aren’t I always the one looking pathetic because I can’t cope with all of…” He ended the sentence by gesturing vaguely around them. His throat was getting tighter and the ice cream they ate was hours ago. Dongmyeong smiled in the understanding way he could always be counted on to do. He was almost too much. “I know that you are more resilient than me but I am someone you can rely on. If you’re having a hard time you don’t need to pretend not to just because you think you need to look after me.”

Dongmyeong grinned and poked at Sunghyuk’s chest roughly. “Look at you getting sentimental! If it would make you feel better you can buy me some ice cream this time, _hyung_!”

Dongmyeong was absolutely shameless. Sunghyuk was only a ‘hyung’ when Dongmyeong decided that a scant six months was enough to try and be cheeky.

“It is me who has been paying for ice cream every time until now.”

“Doing it one more time might make you feel better.”

Sunghyuk sighed. He was a fool. He should have gone to school this morning and ignored the abrupt message telling him to bring a change of clothes and meet at the bus station. He had a tonne of homework to catch up on and he would have even more after messaging his classmates to borrow their notes. But for some reason, as annoyed as he felt, he really couldn’t say no to the invitation of just one more time.  

“Can I at least choose the flavour I want to eat this time?” Sunghyuk asked.

Dongmyeong only cheered – a vague reply if it could be called one at all – and clapped before launching once more into that stupid dance that drew the eyes of passers-by.

“Come on, join in!”

Sunghyuk covered his face for a moment. He still had a lot of stressors in his life but doing the dance and not doing the dance both yielded the result of his troubles remaining. So Sunghyuk really didn’t have much to lose.

**Author's Note:**

> Please vote for Seo Sunghyuk's maboy while you still can!!


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